Tatarak

The script is a combination of three sources of inspiration. Naturally, the basic source for the film is the short story Tatarak written by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz in the 1950s, enriched with certain threads taken from the short story Nagłe wezwanie by Sandor Marai.
The second source is semi-documentary “diary notes”, involving the process of making the film and documenting the film set, made with a camera. The third and definitely the most-emotional source is the famous monologue by Krystyna Janda, based on her diary entitled Zapiski ostatnie (Final Notes).

The film starts with an autobiographical monologue performed by Krystyna Janda, spoken against the background of a copy of the painting by Edward Hopper entitled A Woman in the Sun. The film also contains shots of the film set (a film within a film).

Tatarak/Sweet Rush is a story about Marta, a woman past her prime, who lost her two sons during the Warsaw Uprising. Now, she is living a rather-dull life, full of routine, in a little town. When she meets a beautiful young boy, Boguś, everything changes.  Marta’s husband, a doctor, decides not to tell her wife that she is dying of cancer.  Instead, he does not oppose  Marta’s meeting Boguś. Being head over heels in love with a much-younger boy, the woman is living her second youth. Unfortunately, the idyll does not last – Boguś drowns, when swimming in the river to the other bank, in order to pick the titular sweet rush for Marta.

Places in Grudziądz

Grudziądz was an excellent choice as the background for the events taking place in Tatarak/Sweet Rush.

It was shot in the following places

• the streets of the Old Town, especially ul.  Wodna,
• Błonia Nadwiślańskie (Vistula River Common) with the granaries overlooking it, and the parish church tower we can see in the dancing scene,
• the Bronisław Malinowski Road Bridge shown in the hitch-hiking scene, when Marta is trying to catch a ride in the rain,
• and the foot of the Castle Hill.

Trivia

• A number of selected scenes were also shot in Toruń.
• Tatarak/Sweet Rush had its première in February 2009, during Berlinale.
• Krystyna Janda and Paweł Szajda had to undergo special training in underwater diving and water-movement choreography in order to shoot scenes under water.
• The first take was filmed on 12th August 2008, and the last take on 15th September 2008.
• The film was also shot in Dragacz, Piaseczno, Zalesie, Warka, Warszawa, and on Białe Lake, near Płock.
• After finishing the film, Andrzej Wajda “donated” the stage actors used for dancing to the city of Grudziądz.
• Today, all the locations by the Vistula River used to shoot scenes in Tatarak/Sweet Rush are marked with display-boards containing pictures from the film set and stills from the film itself.

Information on the film

Tatarak / Sweet Rush

Poland 2009, 83′

Directed by: Andrzej Wajda

Screenplay: Andrzej Wajda

Cinematography: Paweł Edelman

Music: Paweł Mykietyn

Producer: Michał Kwieciński

Produced by: Akson Studio

Cast: Krystyna Janda, Paweł Szajda, Jan Englert, Jadwiga Jankowska-Cieślak, Julia Pietrucha, Roma Gąsiorowska, and others.

Selected Awards

Berlinale – the Silver Bear – the Alfred Bauer Prize; the Golden Duck Award for Best Cinematography; the European Film Awards – the FIPRESCI Prize; the “Vistula” Polish Film Festival in Moscow – Special Award; the Polish Film Awards  Eagles – nomination in the Best Music category and nomination in the Best Leading Female Role category.